Starbucks

The Food Coma That Was This Weekend

November 20, 2011 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 2 Comments

I’m supposed to be on a diet, but it’s really hard to do that when the de Castro family is celebrating. Birthdays in our family have always been treated as week-long occasions, a cause for prolonged partying, wating, drinking and all-out merriment. This weekend, we celebrated 3 birthdays and a death anniversary in true de Castro fashion – with great food and family.

Friday Night – Dinner in Sanlo
November is a big month for my dad’s side of the family. He and his three siblings celebrate their birthdays this month, and we also get together for my grandfather’s death anniversary. Each year at around this time, we have dinner in my grandparents’ house in Makati. For this year’s potluck, we had a huge spread consisting of a tossed salad, a nice turkey with bread and apple stuffing and cranberry jelly, meat and cheese lasagna, vegetarian lasagna, chicken and garlic sotanghon, and a mango pavlova for dessert. The food was lovingly prepared by my mom, Tita Nini and Tita Chiqui. I was actually pretty tired that night and didn’t really move much, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Mr C took photos of the all the food. I think I’m starting to rub off on him.

Saturday Night – Dad’s Birthday Dinner at Dampa

My friends Gina and Salie from Frontrunner Productions always make sure that I didn’t go hungry when I do events with them. Last Saturday, I did the script and live continuity for my a project with them at Cuneta Astrodome. I was treated to styro packed prod meals prepared by Salie’s mom. Styro meals bring back memories of fun times with good friends from the events agency I used to work for, and so I enjoyed my lunch and meryenda oh so much. To think I wasn’t all that hungry since Mr C and I had a drive thru Mc Donald’s breakfast meal on our way to the event. After the show, we grabbed some coffee at Starbucks on our way home. I was actually pretty stuffed from all the eating, but then dad announced that he wanted to have dinner at Dampa for his birthday. And who can say no to chili garlic shrimp?

Sunday Morning – Breakfast with the Boys at Starbucks

I was hoping to visit Soderno this morning, but since schedules were a bit tight, I’m gonna have to postpone that visit for another day. Instead, because I was so excited to get my 2012 planner already, I treated the boys to a late breakfast at Starbucks Madrigal. Got to eat my fave sandwiches, have yummy Christmas coffee, and take home my new planner. Totally a great start to my Sunday! I thought today would be the start of my detox but I was completely wrong. After our big breakfast, we had leftover lasagna and homemade lemon merengue pie for lunch, then Chicboy takeout and chocolate cake for dinner.

Starbs Madrigal – still my fave branch in Alabang

I ordered the Spam classic, egg and cheese on cornmeal bread

The kiddo had a Belgian waffle with strawberry syrup

Toffee Nut Latte for me, Double Espresso for Mr C

Mr C’s choice was the Spinach and Artichoke, Mushroom and Mozzarella on Rye

It’s been a fun, calorie-filled weekend. Diet and detox starts tomorrow for real. Tomorrow marks the start of my 12-month membership at Gold’s Gym and the first day of my Zumba Fitness class. Gotta get ready for the calorie fest that Christmas is certain to be.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Aling Tonya’s

Seaside, Daang Hari Road
Brgy Almanza Uno, Las Pinas
(02) 846-9699

Starbucks Madrigal

Molito Commercial Complex, Madrigal Ave,
Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa
(02) 772-3533

Sweet Endings

November 10, 2011 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

I usually end my days by 9:00 when my little boy goes off to sleep. Around that time, I turn out the lights and immerse myself in my online universe. After a couple of hours on the net, I get tired and cross-eyed, and I promptly drift off to lala land. Of course, my body clock didn’t always function that way. When I was younger and before I became a parent, at 9:00 the fun was just about to start. My friends and I would be up until the wee hours, and bedtime was only a few minutes shy of sunrise. I think it’s safe to say that I have mellowed over time, and motherhood played a big role in my lifestyle switch. Of course, since I work in events, late nights can’t be completely avoided, but more often than not they happen for business, rather than for pleasure. Nights out with friends and even date nights with the hubs are now rare occurrences.

Tonight was one of those rare occasions where I found myself ironing my hair at 8 in the evening, preparing to leave the house. I had gotten special invites to an evening event in Makati, and I decided to attend and drag Mr C along with me. A friend of mine had organized a special preview of Tango Fire for bloggers and VIP’s at Nuvo in Greenbelt 2. I’ll get into the full event details in another post, but for now I just have to say that everything about Tango Fire is just sizzling hot!

After the event, Mr C and I took a short walk around Greenbelt’s gardens, and we eventually decided to try the Drive Thru Starbucks at the Fort before heading home. I got a glimpse of the Christmas light along Ayala Avenue, something I looked forward to while I was still working in Makati. We also drove by the Ayala Triangle Gardens and saw the lively lights hanging from the trees. I hope to be able to take a walk there one evening before the holiday season is over.

The Starbucks Drive Thru at the Fort was something I’d been wanting to try for a while now. We actually attempted to go there a few months ago, but it was late and we had Tristan with us, and we couldn’t find the right street to turn into! So tonight I was excited to finally see the place, which turned out to be really cute. I hope they open a drive thru branch in the south too.

While Mr C ordered his usual Cafe Americano, I decided to sample the new Christmas drink, the Cranberry White Chocolate Mocha. A friend of mine said that it was extremely sweet, and she didn’t enjoy it much. I ordered mine iced, and I think that was an excellent idea, because when the ice melted, the drink wasn’t so overwhelmingly sweet anymore. Of course, I also got a piece of my favorite Starbucks holiday treat, a nice big peppermint brownie.

Peppermint Brownie!
Looks a little messy coz some of the chocolate frosting stuck to the wax paper.

I’m just so giddy about being able to attend an event as a guest for a change, and actually just being able to go out in general, even if it was just for a few hours. I really should be getting some sleep soon, tomorrow is sure to be another long day at the office. Glad I got to escape my routine tonight, and on a work night no less! Seems rather risque in a grandmotherly sort of way.

The Red Cup Is Back!

November 3, 2011 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

It’s Christmas time again in Starbucks! Finally saw the 2012 planner, and I’m happy that there are more sheets now dedicated for notes. I also like that it’s smaller than the current planner.

Started my morning extra early today, and so I found an excuse to treat myself to my first Toffee Nut Latte of the season. Yay!

*Chumsy*

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